Disclaimer: None of this is mine.

Our journey to Gizamaluke's Grotto was somewhat delayed. Zidane insisted on making a detour through a swamp. I was not pleased, to put it mildly. Unlike my royal friend, I am by no means fastidious, but I draw the line at swamps. As for why, suffice it to say that I have had bad experiences with mud.

"Just why are we tromping through a swamp?" Zack asked in exasperation. "My cape is getting covered in mud."

More like saturated, I thought sardonically.

"This is Qu's Marsh," Zidane said. "I think the Qus might be able to help us."

"I just hope we meet some soon," Laura grumbled. In her own way, the White Silver Dragoon was just as obsessive about cleanliness as Zack.

Maybe that's why they get along so well. Then again, maybe not. "I agree with Laura," I said. "We don't know how Chris and Seria are doing. Let's take care of this quickly."

Fortunately for my peace of mind, we encountered a Qu shortly thereafter. It's difficult to describe a Qu to someone who hasn't seen one. They are usually pale in color, with thick limbs and a protruding tongue. Despite their rather comical appearance, underestimating them is a mistake. They are just as intelligent as Humans, even if most seem to have trouble with the English language.

This particular Qu wore what appeared to be a chef's outfit, specially tailored for his rotund form. I've seen him before.

"Uh, who are you?" Zidane asked.

The Qu looked at him. "I? I called Quina."

I tuned out the discussion. Zidane had better be right about a Qu being helpful. This is taking time that we do not have. I turned my gaze north. Burmecia is in that direction, past Gizamaluke's Grotto. I hope the others are alright. Is it really Alexandria behind this?

"Are you okay, Jason?" Dari asked.

I sighed. "I'm worried about Chris and Seria. If Alexandria really is behind this, then I'd be willing to bet General Beatrix is there in person. Even for a pair of Dragoons, she'd be a handful." I shook my head. "I only met Chris once before he joined us, but I liked him."

Dari laid a hand on my arm. "Seria told me she looks at you like a big brother."
"Apt, since I've long thought of her as a little sister." I let a low growl resound in my throat. "If she's been hurt in any way, I will take my time killing those responsible."

The Dark Dragoon gripped her rapier. "I'll help. Seria's my best friend, remember."

Zidane reappeared with Quina in tow. "Let's go, guys. Master Quale, Quina's teacher, asked me to take Quina with us."
I shrugged. "Fine, whatever." As we hiked out of the swamp, I gave Quina a dubious glance. "Zidane, just how is a Qu supposed to be helpful?"

He grinned. "We could use a good cook. Zack told me how good you are at that. Or aren't."

I glared briefly at the prince, then turned back to Zidane. "I'm a warrior, not a gourmet chef. I agree we could use some decent food, but that's not what I'm asking. Can Quina be of use in combat?"

"Qus use a special skill called Blue Magic," Zidane said. "If a Qu eats a monster that has a certain skill, he can learn that skill."

"Interesting."

As it turned out, Quina was good in a fight. When we neared Gizamaluke's Grotto, we were attacked by a pair of dragons. Obviously, these dragons were nowhere near as dangerous as the sort found in Endiness, because Quina destroyed one with his weapon, a giant fork, and devoured the other. The fighting chef looked quite pleased with himself afterwards.

Indora chuckled. "Talk about feasting on your enemies."

There was no sign of life at the cave's entrance. That does not, however, mean that it was deserted. A pair of Burmecian soldiers lay dead on either side. I knelt to examine one. He hadn't, so far as I could tell, been struck with a sword or spear. The lack of slash or stab wounds, combined with a few scorch marks, suggested he died by magic.

I rose. "It wasn't Alexandrian soldiers who did this, not unless they're more proficient in magic than anyone thought. This guy was killed by a Fire spell."

"The other one as well," Freya said. "This is very bad. I fear Burmecia will be in dire straits by the time we arrive."

"Then let's get moving!" Zidane responded. He added, almost to himself, "I sure hope Dagger didn't come here."

The doors in the grotto had the strangest locks I had ever seen. To open one, you had to ring a certain kind of bell. A bell in the door would ring at the same time, then the hand bell would shatter and the door would open.

The scene that greeted us past the first door would have been hilarious if it wasn't so tragic. Black Mages, who did indeed look like enlarged versions of our friend Vivi, were busily torching the remaining Burmecian soldiers. How is this comical, you ask? Simple. Two midget clowns were running around an upper path, apparently directing the battle.

Dari cursed under her breath. "A pair of clowns and a bunch of mindless killing machines. Great." Then, remembering Dali, she glanced at Vivi. "Sorry, Vivi."

The young mage shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

That was enough to get the clowns' attention. One looked down at Zidane. "I have seen him before."

"Seen him before? Not seen him, have I," the other responded.

"Let's kill him!" said the first.

A pair of Black Mages dropped down, but were easily dealt with. Freya glared up at them, twirling her spear. "Is that all you've got? Why don't you take us on personally?"

In response, the clowns turned and ran.

"So much for them," Zack said with a snort.

Three doors and a couple of Moogles later, we found ourselves in a long hallway, with a narrow path between two large pools of water. There was a large door at the far end, presumably the exit. I have a bad feeling about this.

Freya knelt beside a wounded Burmecian. "What happened here!?"

The soldier groaned. "Two clowns…Brahne's lackeys. They…corrupted Master Gizamaluke. Watch out…"

He got the warning out just in time. Gizamaluke himself lunged out of the water and faced us, hovering. The best description I can come up with is that he looked vaguely like a snake, with the fins of some kind of ray. I couldn't really tell if he was intelligent or not, and it didn't really matter at that point. Gizamaluke was an enemy, that was all I needed to know.

"Dragoons, transform!" I snapped. "Prepare to fry, Gizamaluke! Final Burst!"

"Rose Storm!" Zack shouted. Just in time, too; Gizamaluke promptly cut loose with an area-effect Water spell, not something I care to be hit with, generally.

"Mighty Guard!" Quina gave us some additional protection.

"Thunder!" Vivi had found Gizamaluke's main weakness.

"What I'd give for Chris and his Thunder magic," Dari muttered. "Death Dimension!"

Laura held back as a healer, sending an occasional arrow flying. Indora, knowing that his magic would be next to useless here, simply hacked away with his axe. That left Zidane and Freya, the former stabbing in and out with his knife, the latter impaling Gizamaluke from above.

I landed, my Dragoon armor fading. "Man, that hurt."

Freya tossed me a potion. "I would have thought you'd be stronger than that."

"Usually, I am." I downed the potion. "Even we have weaknesses, Freya. I'm the Dragoon of Fire, which means I have trouble with Water attacks. That area-effect spell took a lot out of me."

The lancer turned to the injured soldier. "Can you stand?"

"Don't worry about me. Please…protect Burmecia……" He slumped over, dead.

"I will protect Burmecia. You have my word," Freya whispered. "Let's go."

It was easy to tell when we were nearing Burmecia: it started raining. The local monsters alternated between the undead and some giant lizards. No threat to us, really, but I chafed at each additional delay. I strongly suspected that the Alexandrians hadn't confined their efforts to Burmecia's army, and I was right.

Freya stopped at the city gate. "It's been five years." She knelt. "I was a selfish child then. No longer. Now I must protect my people."

"We're right behind you," Zidane said.

The devastation in Burmecia was even more extensive than I'd feared. Every home we passed had been wrecked, clearly by attack magic. Bodies were strewn everywhere; the Black Mages had had no inclination to clean up the mess, evidently. To top it off, there were monsters everywhere, though none posed much danger to five Dragoons.

Zack shook his head in disgust. "I'm going to enjoy killing whoever did this," he growled. "This is worse than anything from the Serdian War, from what Dad's told me. Even the Sandorans usually left kids alone." The prince nodded to the body of a Burmecian child. "This is sick. Just sick."

"Worse than anything?" Dari asked pointedly. "What about Seles? Jason's parents died in that attack."

"Tell me something I don't know," Zack replied. "I said they usually left kids alone. Seles was hit by Fruegel's men. The Great Commander was actually a pretty decent sort."

"Still is, last I heard," I put in. "He's mayor of Kazas these days." A flash of movement caught my eye. "Heads up!"

The warning proved unnecessary. A streak of blue and platinum silver almost knocked me off my feet. "Jason! Jason, thank goodness you're here!"

I gave the Wingly a quick hug. "Seria, what happened!? Are you alright?"

She stepped back. "I'm fine, so's Chris."

The Dragoon of Thunder appeared behind her. "Jason, what took you so long?"

"We got sidetracked, I'll tell you later," I replied. "Was this an Alexandrian attack?"

Chris nodded. "They came about two days ago, Alexandrian soldiers and some weird mages with pointed hats." He glanced at Vivi suspiciously.

"Vivi's on our side, don't worry about it," I said quickly.

"Right. Anyway, Queen Brahne came here in person, to 'supervise the extermination of the vermin,' as she put it." Chris curled his lip. "I guess she thought that since Burmecians don't look like Humans, that means they aren't people."

"She had a couple of clowns with her," Seria added. "It looked like they were in charge of the Black Mages."

"That fits with what we saw in Gizamaluke's Grotto," Freya said. "Do you know who they are?"

Chris shrugged. "Brahne called them Zorn and Thorn, though we could never tell which was which. They're inconsequential, anyway. The real problem is General Beatrix. She came along and just about destroyed the Burmecian army all by herself. They saved the Black Mages for simple murder." He frowned. "Funny thing, though. I got the impression that she didn't like what was going on. And the look she gave those mages, talk about venomous."

"I'll give her venom," Seria snarled. The normally happy-go-lucky Wingly was almost shaking with rage. "All those people dead, and for no reason! Just who does Brahne think she is!?"

"The new ruler of the world, it would appear." I grimaced. "Anything else?"

Chris sighed. "I'm afraid so, and it isn't good. I saw that guy from the Tournament, Sands, in blood-red Dragoon armor."

I cursed savagely. "So he's joined forces with Alexandria, has he!? We'll just have to show him the error of his ways!" I turned to Zidane. "Zidane, we're going to have to split off temporarily. Beatrix is bad enough; combine that with the likes of Derrick Sands and you have a recipe for disaster. Nothing against your fighting skills," I added, sweeping my gaze over Vivi, Freya, and Quina, "but you would be helpless against the Blood Dragoon. Even though I had Dari and Zack with me, he almost killed me near the Ice Cavern. With all seven Dragoons assembled, maybe we'll stand a better chance."

The thief nodded. "Good luck."

Zidane and his friends headed for the palace, while we Dragoons turned east. For the first time in quite a while, I was having difficulty controlling my emotions. Derrick, sooner or later I am going to kill you. Leading a small-time gang in a backwater village like Seles is one thing, mass murder is quite another. I still couldn't figure out how someone like Derrick Sands could have defeated the Blood Dragon. Lloyd had the Dragon Buster, so that was out. He had to have acquired a new source of power.

"So Sands was just a bully before he came here?" Laura asked.

I shook my head. "Not precisely. Oh, he is a bully, true, but not in the sense of your basic schoolyard thug. He's a good enough fighter to give even me trouble, and that's without factoring in his new Dragoon Spirit." I frowned. "He seemed a lot stronger than our last confrontation, in Lohan. And there was a strange look in his eyes, almost an insanity, and that worries me. Derrick isn't exactly a nice guy, but he never struck me as insane. He must have found a new source of power."

"How right you are."

I looked up. Derrick Sands hovered about fifty feet above us. "Hello, Derrick, nice to see you." My voice dripped sarcasm. "So now you've gone from simple assaults to cold-blooded murder?"

He laughed harshly. "You're one to talk, Iceman. You're just a cold-blooded killer yourself. What's the difference between you and me?"

"You wouldn't understand," I answered. "You think there's no such thing as right and wrong, you think that only the strong deserve to live." I sighed. "What a waste. With your skill, you would be invaluable to King Albert. You could be a valiant protector of the realm, which would give you a real shot at the glory you crave so much."

Derrick snorted derisively. "Where's the fun in that?" He swept his sword in an arc. "Look around you, Jason. The people of Burmecia were weak. They were trapped like the rats they so resembled, and died like them."

We transformed as one. "Only a coward slaughters children," I said coldly, "and only a fool underestimates potential enemies."

"Then you are a fool," he said, and attacked.

I blocked the first strike of his sword, then countered with a thrust that glanced off his breastplate. "Seven on one, Derrick. You don't stand a chance." I charged up a spell. "Flameshot!"

"Rose Storm!"

"Grand Stream!" Indora hammered the ground with his axe. "I suppose you would consider Gigantos weak, since we were almost annihilated by bandits. Meteor Strike!"

"Freezing Ring!" Seria spun in midair. "Ant I'll bet you think Winglies are weak, too, since we lost in the Dragon Campaign!"

Sands slashed again, gashing my left arm. "Far from it. It was, after all, a Wingly who so briefly became the God of Destruction back in Endiness, and a Wingly helped defeat him."

"You think you're so tough, eh? Thunder God Attack!" Chris gave the Blood Dragoon a jolt. "Martial abilities mature along with the spirit, and your spirit is anything but mature. That's why Jason defeated you so easily in Lohan."

"Oh really?" Derrick laughed. "Blade of Death!" Chris screamed as the blade penetrated his armor. "As you can see," he went on conversationally, "your powers don't even begin to approach mine."

"Astral Drain!" Dari shouted. "You can't possibly win!"

"I don't need to." Derrick glanced over his shoulder. "In fact, I believe it is time for me to leave. Blood Dragon, attack!"

Were it not for our Dragoon armor, that Dragon summon would almost certainly have killed us. As it was, Laura and Seria were knocked unconscious, and the rest of us were hurt badly. I crashed to my knees, coughing up blood. I glared at Sands. "Just tell me, Derrick," I snarled, spitting out a broken tooth. "How did you defeat the Blood Dragon? You needed power that surpassed even the Dragon Buster to pull that off."

He laughed. "And I acquired a greater source of power. Look up."

I looked. Flying above us was an effeminate looking man on a silver dragon. "That is Kuja, the man behind both my new power and the recent events in Alexandria. It was he who created the Black Mages, and gave Brahne the ability to crush Burmecia." Derrick laughed again. "And soon Princess Garnet will fall into his power. Once that happens, her eidolons can be extracted, giving Queen Brahne the power to dominate the entire world."

Dari sat up, bleeding profusely from a gash in her forehead. "What on earth is an eidolon!?"

"It's a very powerful summon monster," Derrick said, grinning maliciously. "You'll see for yourself, soon enough." He climbed into the sky and vanished.

For the next hour we barely moved. We didn't have access to healing magic, since Laura and Seria were unconscious, so we had no choice but to wait. Fortunately, there was no sign of any patrols, so we were spared any confrontations with enemy soldier, which we almost certainly would have lost.

Relief came from a very unexpected source. "Cura!"

I slowly got to my feet, eyes wide. A woman stood nearby, dark blond hair, a patch over her right eye, a double-edged sword in one hand. I recognized her instantly. "General Beatrix!?"

She nodded. "The same. Are you alright?"

"Yes," I said cautiously. "Why did you help us? We're not exactly allies here."

"Not precisely." Beatrix stepped forward. "I am well aware of your connection to the group who abducted Princess Garnet from Alexandria, but I also know that you are not the enemy. Whatever your motivations may be, the Princess clearly went with you willingly." She extended a large artifact, shaped like a Dragon's head. "A man named Lloyd asked me to give you this. He said it would help you defeat your new foe."

I took it. "The Dragon Buster! It'll help, all right. This weapon will go through Dragoon armor like butter." I carefully placed the weapon in a bag. "Why do you care about that guy, anyway?"

Beatrix grimaced. "Derrick Sands claims to be an ally of the Queen, but I don't trust his motivations. I am convinced he cares about only himself."

I winced. "No kidding. That maniac's been the bane of my life for thirteen years."

She turned to leave. "Farewell. I hope we do not face each other in battle."

I turned back to my team. "Alright folks, get some rest. We leave in the morning."

Author's note: Sorry I took so long, but I had trouble thinking about where to go on this one (death to writer's block!).

To all reviewers: Please, no more personal questions. I'm not angry or anything, I'm simply not comfortable with such things. Yes, Ye Say Ye Fool, you got my name right. I guess I should have picked a more obscure e-mail address. Oh, well, what's done is done.

Story Weaver 1, Indora is full Giganto. The game never specifically says that Kongol is the last one, and I do not for an instant believe that a race as strong as the Gigantos could have been wiped out by a bunch of bandits.

That about covers it. Please keep reading and reviewing, or this story will have no point.